


Taako and Lup: On Family

by Newt



Series: Newt's Twins Week! [7]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, Twinsweek, the twins are bad at talking about their feelings but sometimes you just gotta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2019-03-13 06:26:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13564743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Newt/pseuds/Newt
Summary: Taako and Lup do some baking, and talk Gets Real (tm).A sweet sort of finale to twins week.





	Taako and Lup: On Family

Taako had just started whisking together his confectioner’s sugar and almond flour when he heard some padded footsteps approaching. Lup looked up from judging his technique, grinning as Angus McDonald stepped into the kitchen. He was wearing fuzzy green footie pyjamas with pictures of dogs all over them. A gift from Magnus, that was definitely too adorable to be allowed, ever.

 

“I… um, just wanted to say goodnight,” Angus said, eyes scanning the ingredients splayed out on the counter. Taako could practically see his beautiful little mind working out the exact recipe they were doing.

 

“Oh, macarons!” Angus said, face lighting up. “I love macarons!”

 

“I mean, that’s a given,” said Taako, setting the bowl down and brushing his hands across his apron.

 

Lup got to Angus first, crushing him in a quick hug that lifted him a little bit off the ground.

 

“Night, kiddo,” she said, messing up his hair for good measure.

 

“Goodnight, ma’am!”

 

Taako came up behind her, getting Angus with an even quicker, one-armed squeeze.

 

“See you tomorrow.”

 

Angus nodded, grinning widely.

 

“And tomorrow we’re gonna actually do something fucking fun for once,” Taako continued, scowling. “No more homework. You’re on vacation, take it easy, hm?”

 

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Angus said. “I still have a few more books to…”

 

“Angus,” said Taako, glaring at him now. “Just, like, be cool.”

 

“What’s your essay about?” asked Lup, working some of Taako’s mixture through a sieve as they talked.

 

“Um… it’s a research paper comparing and contrasting the different kinds of intermolecular forces. I have a few books out, I just need to…”

 

“Say no more, little man,” said Lup, tapping the side of the sieve purposefully. “We deal with this shit all the time. I’ll get Barry to write it for you. It’ll be done by morning”

 

Angus looked horrified.

 

“Oh, no! I can’t cheat, I…”

 

“Good _niiiiiight_ …” said Taako, gently steering him out of the room. “See you tomorrowwww…”

 

Angus relented, with one last worried look over his shoulder. Lup finished sifting the dry ingredients while Taako set to work on the egg whites.

 

“Are you really gonna make Barold finish up Angus’ work for him?” asked Taako, brow furrowed in concentration, flicking the yolk from shell to shell.

 

“Oh, no. That was one hundo percent a threat. I’m pretty sure Barry’s already asleep, actually.”

 

Taako poked his head around the corner to confirm. Sure enough, Barry was snoring lightly in an arm chair. On the couch beside him, Kravitz looked up from his book and smiled at Taako. At least one of them was being reasonable. It was fucking nine o’clock. Taako blew Kravitz a kiss and ducked back into the kitchen.

 

Lup had already set to work beating the egg mixture when Taako turned around, using mage hand to blend it extra quickly. He folded his arms, watching the mixture start to froth, waiting for his cue to add the superfine sugar.

 

“I just want some time to do something actually fun with him before he goes away again,” said Taako, mouth thin.

 

Lup hummed a response, scraped the edges of the bowl, and continued mixing.

 

Angus was heading off to stay with Magnus in a few days, to finish up his time before school started again. He’d only been with Taako for about a week, and all of that so far had been spent doing schoolwork. Either this kid was way too into school, or Lucas worked his students way too hard. Taako made a mental note to check on the homework situation at his own school, and figure out a way to give the cooler kids some time off.

 

“You know he’ll be back for weekends,” said Lup. “The kid basically lives here now.”

 

Taako grunted.

 

“Sugar, Taako.”

 

“I was getting to it.”

 

Taako slowly added the sugar as Lup mixed, their speeds synching up perfectly after a lifetime of practice.

 

“This is essentially his home though, right?” asked Lup, and Taako wasn’t sure if she was teasing him or not.

 

“No way!” he said, slopping a bit too much sugar into the bowl. Lup clicked her tongue.

 

“I mean, he likes to hang out here, but…” Taako paused. His mind flashed to their guest bedroom, now full of models of the planar system and stuffed animals and a bookshelf of young adult mystery novels.

 

“Nope. He doesn’t live here. Not really. I’m… it's not like I'm his _dad_ or anything.”

 

“I never said that,” said Lup. “Nah... you’re not really the dad type. More like…”

 

She paused her mixing, considering

 

“More like his brother.”

 

Taako shook his head furiously as the mixing picked up. He dumped the rest of the sugar in, then backed off, clapping his hands together to rid them of extra powders.

 

“Nope. Not that either.”

 

“Ummm, no offense but I think I might know a little bit more than you do about what you’re like as a brother.”

 

“Fantastic?” asked Taako.

 

“Sure,” said Lup.

 

She stopped to test the peaks of the mixture, then continued stirring.

 

“I just mean, like, hm. That time he stayed up all night reading and then didn’t wake up until noon?”

 

Taako snorted.

 

“Nerd.”

 

Lup nodded.

 

“Super nerdy. Kind of adorable. Anyway, this is what I mean. You don’t, like, scold him. You just tell it like it is.”

 

“Nerds don’t scare me,” said Taako.

 

“I know, dear.”

 

Lup stirred in silence for a few minutes, waiting until it got kind of stiff and shiny. Taako took the bowl without words, transferring it to the almond flour and folding it in. Lup held the bowl and turned, easy as anything.

 

“You know who’s a fucking _dad_?” Taako said, grinning. He dropped the spatula in the mixture. It was combined as hell.

 

“Barry,” said Lup, knowingly.

 

“No. Well, yes, but no,” said Taako. “ _Kravitz_ , seriously. He buys so much stuff for the kid. And helps him with homework and makes him eat his vegetables and all that jazz. It would be gross if it wasn’t the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen with my own eyes.”

 

Lup grinned wickedly.

 

“I would say something, but, like, my man is literally asleep in your chair at nine pm right now.”

 

“Fair.”

 

“Shit, bro, we’ve gone and married a couple of dads.”

 

She carefully added a few drops of purple food colouring to the dough, while Taako doled out some vanilla extract. He stopped to smell it, out of an old habit from when they were kids. Lup watched him, smiling not unkindly.

 

“Actually, y’know what?” she said.

 

Taako stirred the dough some more, painting it a pale lavender colour.

 

“What?”

 

“I just placed it. Angus reminds me of us.”

 

Taako snorted.

 

“Maybe you.”

 

“I mean, the whole nerd thing is actually for sure you, but not what I’m talking about,” said Lup, leaning against the counter. “I mean, c’mon, the misplaced kid thing. We would’ve killed for the chance to stay somewhere like this.”

 

She gestured to the space around them, and Taako huffed. He pulled up the spatula, watching the dough slide off in thin, flat ribbons. Perfection.

 

“Anyone would love to live with me,” he said. “Have you seen this place?”

 

Lup had, in fact, seen this place. It was comfortable and warm and smelled like really good cooking. It was decorated with soft curtains and shiny hardwood and books and art. The kitchen was wide and stocked full and covered in all things Taako. Lup had even hung up some framed needlepoint right over the sink, as a ‘thanks for not killing your surprise lich sister-in-law’ gift for Kravitz. It was an ironic, flowery sort of thing that read “ _Double the giggles, double the grins, double the trouble, when you’re blessed with twins_.” Just the fucking homiest.

 

It was everything they’d never had, and it was everything they’d fought for. It was a little disorienting, sometimes.

 

“Yeah, Angus is pretty lucky,” said Lup. “He’s missing out the cool twin thing, though. At least we had each other.”

 

She twisted her sentence up at the end, smirking but only half-joking.

 

“Yuckeroo,” said Taako. Lup jabbed him with the end of her spatula. Taako recoiled, tensing a bit as he pulled out more supplies.

 

“Anyway, don’t be ridiculous,” Taako said. “Angus isn’t going through anything like we did. No way. He’s too…”

 

“Pure?” Lup supplied.

 

“Loved, I guess,” said Taako, brushing off the emotional moment by hurriedly turning to transfer the batter into pastry bags.

 

Lup let the silence hang for a while, snatching a bag from Taako and piping out little circles of batter onto their prepared baking sheets. Taako started from the other end, and they met in the middle, doing a perfect 36 each.

 

“You know, we’ve got people who love us, too,” said Lup, tapping the air bubbles out of the circles with a steady hand.

 

“Of course,” said Taako, leaning up against the counter.

 

They set the baking sheets aside, to sit until the tops were ready for baking. Lup slid up onto the counter, letting her feet swing a bit.

 

“I never used to think we’d ever find people this great,” said Lup. “It used to just be, well, us. And then… the end of the world sort of happened and it all took off, I think.”

 

Taako snorted, turning away from her.

 

“Are you saying we got lucky? Because I don’t count a giant vore alien chasing us through space as lucky. Guess I'm old-fashioned that way.”

 

“You know, it’s just so hard to meet a nice vore alien these days,” said Lup. She punched him lightly on the arm.

 

“But, nah, we got lucky with family, dingus.”

 

“Mm.”

 

Here was where it sort of fell apart for Taako. After a lifetime of being by Lup’s side, and seeing everything the way she did, everything crumbled around the time they got separated. Lup spent years in darkness, lonely and starving for the people who held her heart in their battle-calloused hands. Taako had gone on, ignorant of everything that had ever been important to him, betrayed, again, by a person he’d once loved like the only family he’d ever known.

 

But, still, they’d all found their way back to him. Bonds, or something.

 

And then Kravitz, of course, and the kid, and all of the others he’d come to love over the years. His shrivelled Taako heart was being pulled in a million directions, and his sister was so ready for it, while he stayed afraid, somewhere underneath it all. His heart was still half that of a scared kid clinging to his sister, with the other half being warm and bright and pointed towards a family bigger than he could even imagine.

 

“We’ve got so many people, now, Taako,” said Lup, voice kind of low and thoughtful. “We should visit Davenport again, what’s that dude even up to?”

 

“He sent me a card,” said Taako, plucking it out of thin air and handing it to her.

 

“Aw, what? He hasn’t sent me one in a few weeks! What the fuck kind of favouritism is that?”

 

“Mmm, I’m just the better child, I think.”

 

“That’s a goddamn lie and you know it.”

 

There was a silence again as Lup scanned the card, the hint of a smile showing through the fake-hurt. It was a nice postcard from some mountain town half a world away. Just a little ‘thinking of you’ type thing that made Taako’s chest swell a little bit. Well, at least this was something they could agree on.

 

“Relatives ain’t shit,” said Taako, nodding. This was what family was made of. Postcards and macarons and lounging on furniture at 9 pm.

 

Lup frowned, setting the card aside. She poked the top of a cookie, still with the same scrunched look on her face. Her finger came away clean. The cookies were successfully un-sticky, and it was time to bake these babies. Taako helped her slide a double baking sheet under them, and then pulled the oven open and placed in the sheets, working quickly as the heat escaped.

 

They closed the oven again, and Lup slinked backwards, face still creased in deep thought.

 

“Y’know, our relatives were shit, but I don’t think that’s… they’re not always bad.”

 

Taako clicked his tongue.

 

“I swear to Istus, Lup, if you’re talking about your mother-in-law again…”

 

“She’s a nice lady!” said Lup, throwing her hands up as she fell backwards to sit in a chair.

 

Ever since they’d developed their little dimension-hopping belt things, Lup and Barry had been spending a sickeningly adorable amount of time with Marlena Bluejeans.

 

“It might be kind of nice, you know. To have relatives we can be proud of,” said Lup, not fully meeting his eyes anymore.

 

Taako felt something like dread growing in his stomach.

 

“What do you…”

 

Lup was chewing on her lip a little, and Taako dropped the subject like a hot baking sheet.

 

“We’re gonna be around for a long time, still, you know,” said Lup.

 

“Yeah, like, literally all the time,” said Taako, leaning against the counter. “You’ll still be kicking even as I rot in the Astral Plane.”

 

Lup rolled her eyes.

 

“Nuh-uh.”

 

They’d already talked this through before, but it made Taako feel good, dammit. He was fishing for any sort of reassurance after all this weird family talk.

 

“You _know_ when you go, you’re taking three of the Raven Queen’s best reapers with you.”

 

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking. That sort of makes me the most powerful person alive, right?”

 

“Mmm, all you have to do is die.”

 

Taako giggled uneasily, and Lup joined in.

 

“At least elves live for a fucking eternity,” he said. “Get comfy, sis.”

 

Lup rolled her eyes.

 

“Believe me, I know. So many of these kids I see running around are gonna be old and dead before us.”

 

Taako pretended not to notice her casual mention of kids, after that thing earlier about relatives or whatever. This conversation was going some places, and he wasn’t quite sure he was ready for that yet. Good thing he had hundreds of years of denial to go.

 

He noticed, with horror, a bit of a flush to her face. Lup never got like this. What the fuck.

 

“Every kid should have a cool sibling, at least,” she said, clearly diverting, and Taako breathed again. “Relatives are worth something there, yeah?”

 

Taako drummed his fingers on the countertop, flipping on the casual.

 

“Nah, I think we just lucked out.”

 

Lup snorted.

 

“Maybe _you_ did.”

 

Taako was, unfortunately, just too far away to kick her.

 

“Very rude. Rude and uncalled for.”

 

Lup smiled again, for real.

 

“Yeah, okay. You’re a good brother, Taako. To me and to Angus.”

 

Taako sighed.

 

“Yeah, well, you’re a good sister.”

 

Lup laughed.

 

“Well, shucks, look at us.”

 

“Adorable.”

 

“Just the cutest.”

 

They set to work on the lavender-honey filling, scrabbling for ingredients, mixing and adding, settling in together until their rhythms matched up once more. Once the cookies were all out and cooled, they finished up with some artful sandwich making, joking and laughing all the way through.

 

The cookies were, of course, perfection.

 

Sharing them with their family was even better.

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't edit this one as well as the others, because I got the plague halfway through this week and had to finish this only today, now that I'm better. So it's not my best, really, but I thought it was a nice little way to wrap up the, sort of, themes we've been dealing with this week.  
> Legitimately though, 90% of the reason I wrote this was to  
> a) make my excellent joke with that twins needlepoint  
> b) firm up my headcanon that the reapers all die with Taako. Because I love crying and to suffer, also.  
> Twins week was amazing, and I've loved seeing what everybody made! Thanks for making it so great :D


End file.
